Bathurst 12 Hours - Qualifying Congratulations go to the race organisers of the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour for the world's most complicated GT qualifying process! The new qualifying format combined the fastest times from each of the three drivers entered in each car – creating an aggregate time to determine their qualifying position. The pair of Audi Race Experience / Team Joest V10-powered R8 LMS models finished qualifying in first and second position, with the #7 car driven by Craig Lowndes, Mark Eddy and Warren Luff taking the top spot and the $5000 from Armor All. The polesetters then donated their winnings to the Victoria flood relief fund - Well done for that boys! Lowndes, Luff and Eddy combined to set a qualifying benchmark of 6:35.3 seconds, With V8 Supercar and part-time stunt driver Luff setting the car’s fastest time of the weekend with a scorching 2:09.63 lap early in this morning’s session. The fastest lap of the day was set by two-time Pole sitter Steve Owen, however the new format dropped the Porsche he will share with James and Theo Koundouris to third on the ‘aggregate’ starting order. Audi’s Christopher Mies, Marc Basseng and Darryl O’Young will start second; their aggregate time of 6:35.6 seconds just three-tenths behind their Aussie team-mates but ensuring a 1-2 result for the works-supported team. Lowndes said that there was more to come from the green, gold and white Audi. “We know we have got a lot more in the car,” the five-time Bathurst 1000 champion said. “The car is nice to drive; it’s very forgiving which is something we obviously need in tomorrow’s race." “It is quite difficult to get a good clean lap around the mountain,” he added. “It’s a 6.2km circuit but our closing speed is so much different to everyone else’s - especially up the top of the mountain where it is quite difficult to pass.” “We were very happy with the car and pretty confident no one would be able to go much faster that us today,” Luff added. Darryl O’Young: “It’s really great to be here and have Audi on the one/two,” he said. “They (the Aussie guys) did a good job teaching us the track. We got good improvements during practice; the whole team has really pulled together.” The Porsche of Canberra-based James and Theo Koundouris – along with Steve Owen – will start third after having scored the top spot on the grid in both 2009 and 2010. “Steve did a really good job,” James Koundouris said. “It’s a shame that we couldn’t get pole like we have for the past two years but that’s the way the rules are. Steve did the quickest lap of the day and did a really good job. We think we have a really good chance tomorrow. We have to stop less than the Audi’s and should be very consistent so we feel pretty confident.” The VIP Petfoods Racing combination of Tony Quinn, Clarke Quinn and Craig Baird will go from fourth in their GT3R, with another GT3 to start fifth in the form of the Hallmarc sponsored, Marc Cini / David Reynolds / Dean Fiore entry. Two further Porsche’s, two Ferrari’s and the V8-powered Mosler MT900 will complete the top ten. In the battle for class honours, the Matt Kingsley, Roger Lago and Darcy Russell 997 GT3 Cup Car not only scored the Class B (GT Challenge) pole position but scored a stunning seventh outright in the process. The duo of Porsche champions teamed with V8-ace Russell look set to be a fly in the ointment of the leading, outright classed vehicles tomorrow. ‘Godzilla’, the Nissan GTR, returned to the mountain in style today as the Donut King Racing team of Tony Alford, Mal Rose and Peter Leemhuis combined to take the GT Production (Class C) class and score 12th on the starting grid, ahead of the Freestone / Pullin / Seiders Corvette. The Production Car battle was just as intense as the fight at the front of the field, with just ten seconds – on combined aggregate time - separating four leading cars representing three different brands. Taking the class pole was the Peter Conroy Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo X of Mark Brame / Peter Conroy and Anthony Robson, just edging out the similar Lancer driven rapidly by Neil McFadyen, Damien Flack and Leigh Burgess. “It’s great we were able to pull the fastest production lap together,” Anthony Robson said. “The new thing this year is having to deal with the faster cars which puts us in the middle but it should be a good race. “The combined times of all of us are close together,” Brame added. “I am really proud we were able to achieve something. It’s really special to do a press conference!” The two-time outright winning BMW 335i Turbo will start third. In the Production (Performance) class, the HSV Astra VXR steered by young guns Gerard McLeod, Ash Walsh and Formula Ford champion Chaz Mostert comfortably took class pole position, ahead of the GWS Personnel BMW 130i. The Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour will begin with a rolling start at 6:15 AM Australian Eastern Daylight saving time. The race will be streamed live on the internet via www.bathurst12hour.com.au . Qualifying Times!!!!! 1 7 Audi Australia 06:35.3 395.2835 130% = 513.8686 Warren Luff (QLD) 02:09.6 - 129.636
Craig Lowndes (VIC) 02:11.3 - 131.2991
Mark Eddy (VIC) 02:14.3 - 134.3484 2 8 Audi Top Service 06:35.6 395.6234 130% = 514.3104 Marc Basseng (GER) 02:10.8 - 130.8233
Darryl OYoung (HKG) 02:11.8 - 131.7549
Christopher Mies (GER) 02:13.0 - 133.0452 3 69 Supabarn Supermarkets Pty Ltd 06:36.6 396.6159 130% = 515.6007 Steve Owen 02:09.1 - 129.1015
James Koundouris (ACT) 02:13.3 - 133.3091
Theo Koundouris (ACT) 02:14.2 - 134.2053 4 29 VIP PetFoods 06:37.9 397.9281 130% = 517.3065 Craig Baird (NZL) 02:10.9 - 130.9404
Klark Quinn (QLD) 02:13.0 - 133.0186
Tony Quinn (QLD) 02:14.0 - 133.9691 5 12 Hallmarc 06:41.9 401.9213 130% = 522.4977 David Reynolds (VIC) 02:10.1 - 130.0882
Dean Fiore (WA) 02:13.4 - 133.4466
Marc Cini (VIC) 02:18.4 - 138.3865 6 38 Wilson Security - Shannons 06:43.5 403.5403 130% = 524.6024 David Wall (NSW) 02:11.2 - 131.2481
Barton Mawer (NSW) 02:15.2 - 135.1952
Greg Crick (TAS) 02:17.1 - 137.097 7 23 Falcon Property Group 06:48.6 408.5502 130% = 531.1153 David Russell (QLD) 02:14.0 134.0101
Matthew Kingsley (QLD) 02:15.2 135.2457
Roger Lago (QLD) 02:19.3 139.2944 8 17 IL BELLO ROSSO 06:50.2 410.1663 130% = 533.2162 John Bowe (TAS) 02:14.7 - 134.7031
Tim Leahy (NSW) 02:15.4 - 135.4216
Peter Edwards (VIC) 02:20.0 - 140.0416 9 37 Red Alert Laser Tag 06:52.0 412.0213 130% = 535.6277 Allan Simonson (MON) 02:13.6 - 133.627
Luke Searle (NSW) 02:16.2 - 136.2214
Hector Lester (GBR) 02:22.2 - 142.1729 10 2 Procon Developments 06:52.3 412.2573 130% = 535.9345 Geoff Emery (VIC) 02:16.6 - 136.5502
Max Twigg (VIC) 02:16.7 - 136.724
Dean Grant (VIC) 02:19.0 - 138.9831 11 39 Bakehouse Quarter-McGrath-Midd 07:02.1 422.0932 130% = 548.7212 Paul Tressider (NSW) 02:20.1 - 140.1012
Shane Smollen (NSW) 02:20.3 - 140.3312
Simon Middleton (VIC) 02:21.7 - 141.6608 12 44 Donut King Racing 07:13.2 433.208 130% = 563.1704 Mal Rose (NSW) 02:19.9 - 139.8661
Tony Alford (QLD) 02:24.3 - 144.3415
Peter Leemhuis (ACT) 02:29.0 - 149.0004 13 25 Michelin 07:18.5 438.4601 130% = 569.9981 Paul Freestone (VIC) 02:23.8 - 143.7988
David Seiders (NSW) 02:24.2 - 144.1919
Hayden Pullin (NSW) 02:30.5 - 150.4694 14 66 Motorsport Services Limited 07:21.5 441.5181 130% = 573.9735 Simon McLennan (NZL) 02:24.1 - 144.0512
Miroslav Konopka (SVK) 02:28.7 - 148.7125
Scott O'Donnell (NZL) 02:28.8 - 148.7544 15 67 Motorsport Services Limited 07:28.2 448.2224 130% = 582.6891 Stephen Thompson (NZL) 02:27.0 147.0367
Allan Dippie (NZL) 02:29.8 - 149.8266
Mark Maddren (NZL) 02:31.4 - 151.3591 16 62 Eagle 1 07:35.6 455.5824 130% = 592.2571 Adam Gowans (TAS) 02:28.4 - 148.3669
Chris Lillington-Pri VIC 02:32.0 - 152.0294
Richard Meins (GBR) 02:35.2 - 155.1861 17 14 RSH Electrical/DrivingSolution 07:38.0 457.9627 130% = 595.3515 Mark Brame (NSW) 02:30.6 - 150.6295
Anthony Robson (NSW) 02:31.6 - 151.5915
Peter Conroy (NSW) 02:35.7 - 155.7417 18 43 Easts Holiday Parks 07:41.0 460.9897 130% = 599.2866 Neil McFadyen (NSW) 02:31.9 - 151.9321
Damien Flack (QLD) 02:33.8 - 153.8489
Leigh Burges (NSW) 02:35.2 - 155.2087 19 28 G.W.S Personnel 07:43.7 463.6948 130% = 602.8032 Christian D'Agostin QLD 02:31.5 - 151.5395
Peter O'Donnell (NSW) 02:35.3 - 155.3372
Matt Hansen (WA) 02:36.8 - 156.8181 20 80 Bruce Lynton BMW 07:47.4 467.4427 130% = 607.6755 Beric Lynton (QLD) 02:33.7 - 153.6676
Matthew Mackelden (QLD) 02:34.3 - 154.2499
John Modystach (NSW) 02:39.5 - 159.5252 21 3 Maximum Motorsport 07:50.5 470.529 130% = 611.6877 Dean Herridge (WA) 02:32.5 - 152.4768
John O'Dowd (WA) 02:38.2 - 158.2297
Angus Kennard (NSW) 02:39.8 - 159.8225 22 50 Racer Industries 07:57.9 477.8539 130% = 621.2101 Ash Walsh (QLD) 02:39.1 - 159.0882
Gerard McLeod (QLD) 02:39.4 - 159.3599
Chaz Mostert (QLD) 02:39.4 - 159.4058 23 5 Tinkler Motor Sports 08:03.3 483.3116 130% = 628.3051 Jeremy Gray (NSW) 02:38.0 - 157.9636
Steven Johnson (QLD) 02:39.2 - 159.1611
Nathan Tinkler (NSW) 02:46.2 - 166.1869 24 26 G.W.S Personnel 08:11.9 491.9217 130% = 639.4982 Bruce Thomlinson (NSW) 02:43.2 - 163.203
Geoff Fontaine (VIC) 02:44.0 - 164.0043
Richard Gartner (NSW) 02:44.7 - 164.7144 25 27 The Shire Conveyancer 08:12.1 492.1174 130% = 639.7526 Garth Duffy (QLD) 02:41.3 - 161.3417
Paul Stubber (WA) 02:44.1 - 164.1402
Allan Shephard (NSW) 02:46.6 - 166.6355 26 68 Motorsport Services Limited 08:20.6 500.5517 130% = 650.7172 Aaron Harris (NZL) 02:44.1 - 164.0704
David Glasson (NZL) 02:46.6 - 166.5907
Dennis Roderick (NZL) 02:49.9 - 169.8906 | 
